The reliability of virus-induced gene silencing experiments using tobacco rattle virus in tomato is influenced by the size of the vector control.

ABSTRACT: The tobacco rattle virus (TRV)-based vector pYL156 is the most widely used vector for virus-induced gene silencing (VIGS) in solanaceous plants. We show here that vacuum agroinfiltration of the pYL156 empty vector causes extensive stem lesions, foliar necrosis, stunted growth and delayed flowering in tomato, whereas plants infiltrated with pYL156-based silencing constructs that carry inserts of ∼250 bp or more show few symptoms of virus infection. This difference in plant health influences plant susceptibility to insects, a trait measured in many VIGS experiments, and could potentially bias the results of other bioassays designed to assess the phenotypic consequences of VIGS. When plants were infiltrated with the pYL156:GUS construct, which carries a 396-bp fragment of the β-glucuronidase

SUBMITTER: Wu C 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6640492 | biostudies-literature | 2011 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature